Zacks Research Issues Negative Outlook for Alkermes Earnings

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) – Analysts at Zacks Research dropped their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Alkermes in a research report issued on Monday, January 6th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the company will earn $2.40 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.41. The consensus estimate for Alkermes’ current full-year earnings is $2.25 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Alkermes’ Q4 2024 earnings at $0.88 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.28 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.30 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $0.40 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ALKS. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Alkermes in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Alkermes from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Alkermes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $25.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.00.

Alkermes Stock Performance

Alkermes stock opened at $28.08 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Alkermes has a 1-year low of $22.90 and a 1-year high of $32.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.66.

Institutional Trading of Alkermes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Alkermes by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,640,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,079 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Alkermes by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,884,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,507,000 after purchasing an additional 371,039 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC increased its stake in Alkermes by 301.5% during the 2nd quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,699,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,961 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Alkermes by 87.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,203,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Alkermes by 365.5% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,882,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478,422 shares in the last quarter. 95.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Cato T. Laurencin sold 2,691 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total value of $85,708.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $732,964.05. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Craig C. Hopkinson sold 10,471 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.53, for a total transaction of $309,208.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,930,498.14. The trade was a 9.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,738 shares of company stock worth $4,572,904 in the last three months. 4.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Alkermes

Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company, researches, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products to address unmet medical needs of patients in therapeutic areas in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. It has a portfolio of proprietary commercial products for the treatment of alcohol dependence, opioid dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder and a pipeline of clinical and preclinical product candidates in development for neurological disorders.